What Caitlin Did
by Jennifer Hart
Summary: An assignment goes horribly wrong and Kate has to live with the consequences. For Challenge Number 4.


Title: What Caitlin Did  
Author: Special Agent Meg  
Rating: PG  
Spoilers: Left for Dead as well as quotations from The Immortals, Minimum Security, Enigma, Hung Out To Dry, Bete Noire.  
Disclaimers: Don't own them. The only tie I have to these characters other than these stories are the dreams I have about them.

Summary: For Challenge 4. Kate makes a horrible mistake and now has to live with the consequences.

0

"The punchline was the monkey did it." Only an hour before, Tony had been grinning at Kate as he said it. Now he was lying, bleeding in front of her, shot in the head.

"Kate, snap out of it!" Gibbs' voice cut through and she looked up with a start.

"Go grab the emergency kit from the car and put it under Tony's ankles so his legs are elevated." She nodded and Gibbs turned to Tony. "Come on, Tony, hold on."

As she grabbed the kit from the car, Kate was reminded of when she was in junior high, furiously trying to make her way to class after the bell had already rung, and feeling like it was taking twice as long. Finally she had the kit and was running back to Tony and Gibbs.

After she had placed the kit under Tony's legs, she asked, "How's he doing?"

"Still unconscious and losing blood," Gibbs said tersely. "But he's alive." He took a deep breath. "Kate, I want you to come up here and take over applying pressure. I need to get him covered or he's going to go into shock."

"Right." Kate knelt down next to Gibbs and put her hands on top of his.

"That's it. Now push down." Gibbs slid his hands out.

"Stay with us, Tony!" Kate looked down, trying to ignore the pallor of his face. "You're going to be okay."

Meanwhile, Gibbs had taken off his jacket and spread it over Tony's upper body. He put a couple of fingers against Tony's wrist. "Pulse is getting weaker. DiNozzo, don't you dare die on me!"

"Gibbs?" Tears were streaming down Kate's cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

"Kate." Gibbs leveled his blue eyes with her brown ones. "Don't."

A siren cut through the air and both Gibbs and Kate breathed sighs of relief. A moment later two paramedics came running into the room.

"That him?" one of them asked.

"Yes," Gibbs confirmed. "32 years old, no allergies or existing medical conditions, last meal was an hour ago. Shot in the head while apprehending a suspect. He's still alive and I want him to stay that way."

"We'll do our best, sir." The paramedics were already next to Tony, working on him. "What's his name?"

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo - Naval Criminal Investigative Service."

Kate had moved back, but was still staring in shock at Tony. Quickly Gibbs moved over to her.

"Kate." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Look at me." She turned so that she was looking him in the eyes. "Take some deep breaths. Otherwise the EMTs will need to be working on you. That's better." He put his arm around her shoulders so that they could both watch the paramedics.

A few minutes later, the EMTs had Tony on a stretcher. One of them turned to Gibbs. "We're taking him to Memorial. Do one of you want to ride along?"

"Kate will," Gibbs said, pushing her forward. She turned panic-stricken eyes to him.

"No...not when..."

"Kate." Gibbs' voice was kind, yet firm. "You're in no condition to drive. And I don't want Tony alone." Reluctantly, Kate nodded and turned to follow the paramedics.

0

_"Kate? Just breathe." _

_"It's a bikini. Two-piece." _

_"We're going to Cuba!" _

_"Yeah, for an extra from Pirates of the Caribbean." _

_"I smiled." _

_"It's like falling in love. It can happen, like that." _

Kate had a fleeting glimpse of what it must be like for an asthmatic having an attack as the memories threatened to overwhelm her. "Oh, Tony," she whispered. "Oh, Tony."

"BP's dropping!" One of the EMTs yelled as the ambulance pulled to a stop. Her partner rushed around to open the doors. Kate blindly staggered after them.

"We're losing him!"

"Adult male, early 30s, gunshot wound to the head...no pulse, no respiration..."

"Code blue! Get a crash cart..."

0

"Kate?"

She opened her eyes to find Gibbs bending over her. The blood splattered on his shirt brought everything back to her and she gasped. "Tony!"

"Easy." Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder. "They've got him in surgery."

"No - he's dead, he coded..."

"They brought him back while you were out."

"While I was out?" Kate repeated. Gibbs smiled slightly.

"You fainted. You're on a bed in the ER." For the first time Kate saw there was a doctor behind Gibbs. The doctor approached with a smile.

"How are you, Agent Todd?" the doctor asked. She took a deep breath and the doctor gave her an expression of sympathy. "I'm sorry, that's probably not the question you want to hear right now."

"No, it's okay. I'm...okay."

"Your color's coming back. Why don't you just rest a minute and drink some juice while you're waiting. The surgery won't be over for a while." Kate nodded. A moment later, a nurse poked her head in.

"Agent Todd, Agent Gibbs. There's a Dr. Mallard and an Abby Sciuto here to see you."

"Send them in," Gibbs said quietly. A minute later, Ducky and Abby entered. "How are you two?" Ducky asked.

Gibbs' voice was tired as he replied, "Hanging in there, Duck."

Abby approached Kate's bed, her eyes glistening with tears. "Good thing you left the Secret Service," she said in a tight, choked voice. "Otherwise you might have shot the President, too."

"Abby," Gibbs started, but Kate cut him off.

"I shot him, Gibbs. I shot my partner in the head." She unsteadily got to her feet and slammed the cup of juice down, splashing the liquid in all directions. "And it's something I'll regret my entire life!" With that, she bolted from the room.

0

Kate got as far as the sidewalk outside before her strength gave out and she slumped to the curb in tears.

It was supposed to have been a routine day. She, Gibbs, and Tony had been doing paperwork in the office. Overtired from the night before, when they'd been up until 4:00am taking down a terrorist cell, Kate's eyes had interpreted the sentence, "The interrogator questioning 'Tehmonakey' as "The interrogator questioning the monkey."

Gibbs and Tony had promptly pounced on her mistake and started with all kinds of smart remarks. "After disarming the monkey." "The monkey was read his Article 31 Rights." And of course, Tony's, "The punchline was, 'The monkey did it.'"

Then the call had come in and all laughter had stopped. An employee at JAG headquarters had gone crazy, shooting several of his coworkers. Gibbs, Kate, and Tony had been dispatched to the scene. Unknown at the time was that he was still in the building.

"The victims are on the second floor," the shaken security guard reported.

"Thank you," Gibbs replied. "What was the gunman's name?"

"Lt. Ryan O'Donnell. An APB's been put out on him."

"Good." They started up the stairs and had just gotten to the entrance to the second-floor bullpen when more shots echoed through. Kate, Tony, and Gibbs flattened themselves against the wall.

"You get a clear shot, you take him out." Gibbs ordered. Kate and Tony nodded and one by one slipped in, using desks as cover.

Tony was partway across the bullpen when a pistol was leveled against his ribs. "Going somewhere, Pretty Boy?" O'Donnell sneered, jerking Tony to his feet.

"Let him go, O'Donnell!" Gibbs yelled, then ducked as O'Donnell fired off a shot in his direction.

"I don't think so," O'Donnell retorted, shoving Tony in the door of an office.

Kate was behind a desk at the end of the hall, and she whipped around the corner, intending to take O'Donnell down with a headshot. In the split second before she fired, O'Donnell pulled Tony back out into the hall.

In slow motion, Kate watched in horror as her bullet, intended for Ryan O'Donnell, struck her partner in the side of the head. Tony's face registered shock, then pain, and he collapsed to the floor.

A moment later six more shots echoed and O'Donnell did the same, his head and chest riddled with shells from Gibbs' SIG-Sauer.

"Kate, call an ambulance!" Gibbs shouted as they bolted towards Tony's still form.

Kate pulled her phone out with one hand and with the other yanked off her blazer and tossed it at Gibbs. "Thanks." He pressed it against the blood streaming from Tony's head. "Hold on, Tony, you're going to be all right."

"My name is Special Agent Kate Todd - I'm with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. An agent has been shot in the head...

0

Kate rubbed her face in her hands tiredly, too exhausted to cry any more. Suddenly she became aware of an arm wrapped around her shoulders and she looked up dully to see Gibbs sitting next to her.

"Go away," she muttered. Gibbs tightened his hold around her shoulders. "I said, go away."

"Kate..."

"Abby's right, Gibbs. I shot a team member, one of our own. And there's nothing we can to do fix it."

"Abby's not right, Kate. She's just hurting, just like you. Just like all of us."

"Just like Tony." The contempt could be heard in Kate's voice. "A bullet to the head would hurt a lot."

"Kate, listen to me. You've got to understand, this wasn't your fault. You were the weapon in this."

"You didn't see Tony's eyes!" Kate started sobbing again. "The look when he realized I'd shot him. It was like he couldn't believe I'd do something like that to him."

"That's because you wouldn't," Gibbs tried to tell her.  
In a voice full of pain, she said, "But I did."

"Kate, come inside, wait with us," Gibbs pleaded, but she shook her head.

"I don't belong there, Gibbs." Slowly, she got to her feet. "If there's news, I'll be in the chapel." With that she left, leaving Gibbs standing there, pain and frustration in his face.

0

"Agent Gibbs." Gibbs, Ducky, and Abby looked up to see the doctor standing in front of them.

"Agent DiNozzo made it through surgery. The wound was actually less serious than we expected. If he regains consciousness, it's possible there will be little or no brain damage."

"If he regains consciousness?" Gibbs repeated.

"As with any head wound, there was substantive blood loss. Agent DiNozzo is now in a coma - which he may or may not come out of." Abby burst into sobs and Ducky put an arm around her shoulders.

"Thank you, Doctor," Gibbs said quietly. He turned to Ducky. "I'm going to get Kate, let her know what's up, and then we have to run an errand. You'll let me know if there's any change?"

"Absolutely, Jethro," Ducky replied. Gibbs left the room and headed to the hospital chapel.

0

When he got there, he found Kate sitting in one of the pews, staring into space. Gibbs walked over and touched her shoulder.

"Kate?" She looked up. "Tony's out of surgery. He's in a coma, but the doctors say that if he comes out he probably won't have any brain damage."

"If," Kate muttered.

"Yeah," Gibbs said quietly. He took her arm. "Kate, I want you to come with me."

She stood up, reluctantly. "Where?" she asked.

"You'll see." Gibbs led her out to his car, and started driving back to NCIS Headquarters.

"Where are we going?" Kate asked.

"To prove to you Tony's shooting isn't your fault."

0

They pulled into what the agents called the testing garage, which also housed the evidence lockup. A dark-haired man came up to them. "Agent Gibbs."

"Agent Balboa. This is Agent Todd."

"Pleased to meet you. You guys ready?"

"Yeah."

"Ready for what, Gibbs?" Kate asked.

"We're going to reenact the shooting," Gibbs replied.

"Who do I get the honor of shooting this time?" Kate asked, dully.

"Nobody," Gibbs replied. He handed her a bullet-proof vest. "Put this on." Kate did so, looking scared. Gibbs turned to Balboa. "You got my gun?"

Balboa handed it to him. "Loaded with blanks, as you requested."

"Great. Kate, go with Agent Balboa." In shock, Kate allowed Balboa to lead her next to two boxes with a space between them. Gibbs crouched behind the car and Balboa wrapped an arm around Kate's neck, like he was holding her hostage. With the other hand, he held a gun.

"Let her go!" Gibbs yelled.

"I don't think so," Balboa retorted, and shoved Kate into the space between the boxes, then suddenly jerked her back in front of him. The next thing she knew she was being flung back as a gunshot imbedded itself in her Kevlar vest.

Kate lay there for a moment, too in shock to move. Then Balboa held a hand down to her. "Need an arm?"

"Yes, please." Kate accepted the offered arm and slowly got to her feet as Gibbs walked up.

When he reached her, he didn't say anything for a minute, just looked at her, his eyes searching what she was thinking. "Well?" he said finally, his voice firm, but full of understanding.

"You were right," Kate admitted. "There is nothing I could have done."

Gibbs' face softened into a smile and he reached out and put a hand on her arm. "Hard lesson to learn, isn't it?" She nodded. "Trust me, we've all been there."

"Gibbs is right," Agent Balboa added. "There isn't an agent here who's blamed themselves for a teammate or other innocent person's injury when they didn't have to."

"Balboa knows that better than anyone," Gibbs said softly. "That's part of why I asked him to assist us."

"I used to be on Chris Pacci's team," Balboa explained in a quiet voice. "We were working the Voss case together. The day he died, we were supposed to be checking a lead and I came down with the stomach flu as we were heading out. Chris told me to go home, that it was just a routine cold case and that he could handle it."

Balboa didn't need to say any more. Every agent at NCIS remembered Special Agent Chris Pacci's brutal murder.

Balboa finally broke the silence. "Look, you guys probably want to get back to the hospital. Want me to clean up here?"

They nodded and headed for the door.

0

Kate squirmed in her plastic chair next to Tony's bedside, trying to find a position that didn't add to the dull ache in her tailbone. It was midnight and Tony's third night unconscious. Kate and Gibbs had relieved Abby and Ducky at 10:00.

"You know, the people teaching ergonomics would have a field day with hospital furniture," Gibbs remarked as he watched her squirm.

"Tell me about it," Kate muttered. "If you're not a patient when you come here, you will be when you leave."

She was answered by not one but two masculine chuckles - one considerably weaker than the other. Kate jumped to her feet and leaned over the bed. "Tony?"

Gibbs stood up as well and put a gentle hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony, can you hear us?"

Tony groaned and his eyelids fluttered, then opened. Kate's face relaxed into a smile and she squeezed his hand.

"Hey, Tony," she said.

"Hey, Kate," Tony said weakly. "Hey, Gibbs."

Gibbs' eyes showed relief, and for a minute, tears. "How are you feeling, Tony?" he asked gently.

"Killer headache...but I'm okay. What happened?"

"Gunshot," Gibbs said quickly. "But you're going to be fine. You feel up to a couple more visitors?" Tony nodded and Gibbs said "I'll be right back, with Abby and Ducky."

When he'd gone, Tony looked at Kate. "I got shot in the head?" Kate nodded, not trusting herself to say any more.

"What do you remember?" Kate asked softly.

"Just teasing about the monkey." Tony closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them again. "They have to shave my hair?"

A giggle of relief escaped Kate. "You've been shot in the head and you're worried about your hair?" Tony shrugged. "Sorry."

Just then, Gibbs, Ducky, and Abby walked in. Kate tensed as Abby approached. Although Abby - at Gibbs' request - had apologized to Kate, things were still strained between them.

"Good to see you awake, Anthony," Ducky said, a broad smile breaking over his face.

"Thanks, Ducky," Tony replied. Abby squeezed his hand as if to confirm for herself that Tony was still alive.

"Glad Kate didn't cause any lasting damage," Abby said tightly. "Other than leaving you in a coma for three days." Kate and Ducky froze, stunned.

Abby, you and I outside, now." Gibbs' voice was low and barely restraining his anger. Tony clutched Abby's hand.

"Wait," he said, his voice weak, but determined. "What is she talking about?"

Abby didn't look at Gibbs as she replied, "A bad guy didn't shoot you. Kate did."

"Abby, excuse me for saying this, but that is the most insane thing I've heard you say." Tony's voie was quiet and more serious than Kate had ever heard.

"It's true, Tony," Kate interjected, but Tony shook his head.

"Guys, will you excuse us for a sec?" Tony asked. Gibbs studied him for a moment, then nodded.

"Well be in the waiting room," Gibbs said, starting towards the door. Kate and Ducky followed.

0

When Abby joined them several minutes later she looked pretty sober.

"Kate, I owe you an apology," she said softly. "I mean it this time." She flashed a sheepish look at Gibbs. "Tony kind of enlightened me on a few things. I was mad it had happened and took it out on whoever I could."

"It's okay, Abby," Kate said quietly. "I was doing the same thing." She stepped forward and hugged Abby. When she released her, Gibbs hugged Abby as well.

"Good to have the old Abbs back," he said.

"Tony asked if we could get him something to eat from the cafeteria," Abby added.

"Is he trying to go back in the coma?" Kate asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "DiNozzo actually requesting hospital food. Better call Ripleys' Believe It Or Not."

THE END


End file.
